Ololade Adeyanju/
Former Ghanaian strongman, John Jerry Rawlings, is dead.
According to Ghanaian authorities, the former military leader and President succumbed to Covid-19 complications. He was 73.
Rawlings, who had a Scottish father, was born on June 22, 1947.
According to Ghana’s Graphic newspaper, Rawlings died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra.
He was admitted by the hospital a week ago.
He fell ill after his mother’s burial about three weeks ago.
Rawlings led a military junta from 1981 until 1992.
He then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana from January 7, 1993, till January 6, 2001.
He initially came to power as a flight lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force following a coup d’état in 1979.
Prior to that, he led an unsuccessful coup attempt against the ruling military government on May 15, 1979, just five weeks before scheduled democratic elections were due to take place.
After initially handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of the country on December 31, 1981, as the Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
In 1992, he resigned from the military, founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and became the first President of the 4th Republic.
He was re-elected in 1996 for four more years.
Nigerian leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, has sent a condolence message to the Ghanaian people and government over Rawlings death.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, Buhari affirmed that the entire African continent would “sorely miss the sterling qualities of the great leader”.
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